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Last night I felt I had to call the police to check on 2 stray dogs at our local park. My daughter and I take Molly there to play almost every night. It's nice in the winter, we have the park to ourselves. A very thin GSD with a thin black lab mix came into the park without any people. They didn't see us, so we just stayed put and observed them. I thought they were leaving, but then they spotted the cleaning crew for the preschool, ran up to them and started some intense barking. They wouldn't leave. The cleaning crew was protected by a iron fence. The dogs were in the area that was our exit, so we couldn't leave. We took Molly into the tennis courts, since they were fenced off, not sure if dogs would be aggressive and did not want to take a chance with two against one. The dogs would not leave so I called the police. I feel a little embarrassed using police resources to protect my dog, but the motorcycle officer was nice and by the time he got there the dogs were gone and he gave us a short escort to make sure we cleared the park safely. Do you think I over reacted calling the police?

IMHO you did the right thing. I would have done the same thing had I been in your shoes.

Well, I was just getting to work and did not have any leashes with me. When I first got there one of them was on the opposite side of the street and the other was IN the street. I was mostly concerned at first about getting the one dog out of the street, and thought I might be able to get them to come into the building, and then I could figure out what to do with them after that. It was absolutely pouring and I was really afraid they'd get hit by a car. They did come across the street towards me, but wouldn't come close enough to touch. I didn't have any food, which might have actually worked.

I unlocked the office and ran in to ditch my purse, and when I came back out they were going down the side of the building. Again, they came towards me but not close enough, and I'm not sure reaching for them would have been a good idea. They seemed friendly enough, but a sudden move like that might have spooked them, which I was trying to avoid. Once they got back to the sidewalk they started trotting off down the street. I went back inside and turned on my computer to search for the number for AC. It took about 10 or 15 minutes to get the right phone number and get a human on the phone, and I described the dogs, gave them our address, and told them which way the dogs were headed, but I didn't hold out much hope that they'd still be around by the time someone was sent out to investigate.

What's sad is that a week or two later there was a dead dog at the edge of the freeeway off ramp, which is only a half block from our building, and it could have been one of the dogs I saw earlier. Not the shepherd, the other one, who was light brown and looked sort of like an Australian Cattle dog. That was the one that was in the street when I first saw them, so it didn't have much fear of cars, although there weren't that many around at the time. It was hard to tell, but the general size and color were similar to what I remembered.

The shelter is actually very close to where I work, just on the other side of the freeway, but they weren't open yet.

01-03-2013 03:55 PM

Gharrissc

If you felt threatened then you did the right thing.I typically don't call AC when I see a stray dog unless they are injured or are causing a serious problem. Besides that we have a few neighbors who think walking the dog means opening the door and letting the dogs roam the neighborhood. My county doesn't have a leash law,and so AC doesn't take loose dogs calls too seriously unless there is an issue with the particular dogs.I did see police arrive at a grocery store because people felt threatened by a dog who was in a car.I'll make my own thread about that,don't want to hijack yours.

I'm in an unincorporated part of Alameda County, so we have no city government. I had a heck of a time finding a number for AC, and that's how I found out it goes through the sheriff's department.

I saw two stray dogs trotting across the street in front of my building here at work a few weeks ago, and ended up going on a similar wild goose chase to get the right number to report them to. One of them looked like a shepherd or a shepherd mix, and was limping slightly as if it had been hit by a car. It was pouring rain and those poor dogs had nowhere to go. They didn't run from me, but I couldn't coax them into the building either. Anyway, I found the Oakland Animal Shelter phone number online, but it doesn't open until 9:00, and this was 7:30 in the morning. Their recording gave an after hours number to call, and it was for the Oakland Police Department.

That sucks. They wouldn't allow you to leash them?
That's one of the few things I like about the city is AC is so near, an we have several shelters.

01-03-2013 02:35 PM

APBTLove

I suggest something like a baton - if you get a folding baton, you can carry it easily, or in a pocket. Pepper spray.. I've never liked it, I've carried it before, but I've never used it on a dog. I wouldn't spray a dog who wasn't a real threat, and a dog who is a real threat probably wouldn't be to dissuaded by spray.

And there is always the chance you could get it on yourself, your dog, in your eyes etc.

Stun guns (where legal) are always a great non-lethal deterrent. Even for a serious dog.

And of course, actual firearms. But that's self defense, not a deterrent.

I also suggest all dog owners carry break sticks, in case of a dog fight.. It's a mess when you can't get one dog to let go and don't have a break stick.

01-03-2013 02:32 PM

Cassidy's Mom

I'm in an unincorporated part of Alameda County, so we have no city government. I had a heck of a time finding a number for AC, and that's how I found out it goes through the sheriff's department.

I saw two stray dogs trotting across the street in front of my building here at work a few weeks ago, and ended up going on a similar wild goose chase to get the right number to report them to. One of them looked like a shepherd or a shepherd mix, and was limping slightly as if it had been hit by a car. It was pouring rain and those poor dogs had nowhere to go. They didn't run from me, but I couldn't coax them into the building either. Anyway, I found the Oakland Animal Shelter phone number online, but it doesn't open until 9:00, and this was 7:30 in the morning. Their recording gave an after hours number to call, and it was for the Oakland Police Department.

In some areas (like where I live in California, not sure about where you are), Animal Control is dispatched by the police or sheriff's department, so I don't think it's inappropriate to contact the police in that kind of situation. I don't know that I'd call 911, but definitely the non-emergency number.

That's a good point. And yes, I called on the regular dispatch line, not 911. The one time I tried to call Animal Control, I could not get a hold of a real person, a series of voicemail systems, but the police probably has a unlisted direct line to them.

01-03-2013 02:20 PM

GsdLoverr729

A baton maybe? (:

I feel you did the right thing. Though personally I tend to do the same thing APBTLove put

I don't think you overreacted if you had a small child with you. I would have called for animal control as the police tend to overreact to dogs barking and I'd hate to see two dogs shot.

What I would have done isn't what most people would do, I have a thing about taking loose dogs, aggressive or not, off of the street if I can to keep anyone else from getting hurt. I would have put my dog inside the court and call to the others, if they looked aggressive, back inside the court I'd go! lol
I hope those dogs were found and picked up by someone so they didn't harm anyone.

No, until now the only loose dogs in the neighborhood have been dogs that live here and I recognize and then I'd walk them home. Any recommendations besides pepper spray? I've heard if you are not careful it may blow back into your eyes. The presence of my dog usually discourages humans.

01-03-2013 02:07 PM

Cassidy's Mom

In some areas (like where I live in California, not sure about where you are), Animal Control is dispatched by the police or sheriff's department, so I don't think it's inappropriate to contact the police in that kind of situation. I don't know that I'd call 911, but definitely the non-emergency number.

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